M&A activity set to spike in India: Mergers Alliance

November 15, 2016 — INDOLINK Consulting (es)

Source: LiveMint.com, Nov 11, 2016

New Delhi: M&A activity is set to rise significantly in India in the coming months as the country remains the brightest spot for investments among BRICS nations, according to Mergers Alliance, a global partnership of independent investment banks focused on mid-market deals.

“When it comes to deal origination we are seeing the highest number of queries pertaining to India,” Phil Seefried, a board member at Mergers Alliance, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Mergers Alliance Global Conference.

“There is growing inbound and outbound interest, with many Indian companies looking at niche technology acquisitions overseas and similarly foreign companies are looking to tap the Indian market through acquisitions,” Seefried added.

Founded in 1996, Mergers Alliance focuses on local and international deals up to $500 million in value across a wide range of sectors. Its partner firms have collectively completed more than 640 deals in 30 countries with an aggregate value of over $31.3 billion.

In India, it is represented by Singhi Advisors, which has been a member of the alliance since 2007. In 2014, Singhi Advisors picked up a 15% stake in the alliance.

“As far as India is concerned we have successfully closed a large number of domestic and outbound deals and think that both deal values and volumes will rise on the back of structural reforms that we are seeing in India,” said Mahesh Singhi, founder of Singhi Advisors, which completes 25 years this year.

“Each of our partner firms is an independent local specialist with an extensive transactional track record within their territories,” said Ervin Schellenberg, managing partner of Capitalmind, a corporate finance advisory based out of Germany and a member of the alliance.

“In Germany, for example, many of the businesses are family owned and there is succession issue in many of these companies, which make them ripe for an acquisition at the right price of course,” Schellenberg added.

“The experience of Japanese companies involved in M&A in India has been mixed so far,” said Sean Yoshizawa, managing director of Tokyo-based Yayaichi Securities Co. Ltd, a member of the alliance. “But India remains as attractive as ever and Japanese companies remain interested in more opportunities.”